DUBOUE LAB
Welcome to the Duboué Lab!
The Duboué Lab, located at the MacArthur Campus of Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, Florida, explores one of biology’s grandest mysteries: how whole-brain circuits — from genes to neurons to networks — generate behavior, and how variation in those circuits yields the astonishing diversity of life we observe. By studying two powerful and complementary fish models, the genetic fast-developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) model and the evolutionarily adapted blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus), we trace how brain circuits form during development, how they change with experience, and how over generations they can evolve to support radically different behavioral strategies. Zebrafish give us access to rapid development, genetic manipulation, and whole-brain imaging, making them ideal for studying how stress, development, or mutations influence brain wiring, neurochemistry, and behavior. Meanwhile cavefish provide a natural “evolution experiment”: after millennia in dark, nutrient-poor caves, cavefish populations evolved dramatic changes in sleep, feeding, stress response, sensory systems, and neuroanatomy, all while remaining the same species as their surface-dwelling ancestors. By combining genetic tools (e.g., CRISPR, transgenesis), whole-brain atlases, high-throughput behavior tracking, and computational mapping, our lab aims to uncover how changes in neural circuit design, whether through development, environment, or evolution, lead to different “brain-to-behavior” solutions. In doing so, we hope to reveal general principles of brain plasticity, evolutionary adaptation, and the links between neural circuits, behavior, and survival across species.
Explore our site to learn more about our research, and feel free to contact us with any questions!
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Kozol, RA, Canavan, A, Tolentino, B, Keene, A.C., Kowalko, JE, Duboué, E.R. (2024) Evolution of a central dopamine circuit underlies adaptation of light-evoked sensorimotor response in the blind cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus. bioRxiv​
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Kozol, R. A., Conith, A. J., Yuiska, A., Cree-Newman, A., Tolentino, B., Banesh, K., Paz, A., Lloyd, E., Kowalko, J. E., Keene, A. C., Albertson, R. C., & Duboué, E. R. (2023). A brain-wide analysis maps structural evolution to distinct anatomical modules. Elife. Jul 27;12:e80777​​
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Lloyd, E., McDole, B., Privat, M., Jaggard, J. B., Duboué, E.R., Sumbre, G., & Keene, A. (2022). Blind cavefish retain functional connectivity in the tectum despite loss of retinal input. Curr Biol. Sep 12;32(17):3720-3730.e3.​
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Chin, J.S.R, Loomis, C.L., Albert, L.T., Medina-Trenche, S., Kowalko, J.E., Keene, A.C., Duboué, E.R. (2020) Analysis of stress responses in Astyanax larvae reveals heterogeneity among different populations. Journal of Experiemntal Zoology, Part B
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Chin, J.S.R., Gassant, C., Amaral, P., Lloyd, E., Stahl B.A., Jaggard, J.B., Keene, A.C., Duboué, E.R. (2018)Convergence on reduced stress behavior in the Mexican blind cavefish. Dev Biol. 441(2): 319-327
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Jaggard, J.B., Stahl B.A., Lloyd, E., Prober, D.A., Duboué, E.R., and Keene, A.C. (2017) Hypocretin underliesthe evolution of sleep loss in the Mexican cavefish. eLife. 7. pii: e32637. doi: 10.7554/eLife.32637
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Duboué, E.R., Hong, E, Eldred, K.C., Halpern, M.E. (2017) Left Habenular Activity Attenuates Fear Responsesin Larval Zebrafish. Curr Biol, 27(14): 2154-2162.e3.
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